Edinburgh flat fire: Three rescued from balcony

Firefighters rescued three people from a first-floor balcony as they tried to escape a blaze in a flat.

Another woman was rescued from inside the property by officers following the fire in a four-storey block in Southhouse Square, Edinburgh, at around 5.45pm yesterday.

Two men and a woman made their way to the balcony of the flat as the property filled with smoke and were quickly rescued by firefighters.

Three crews were at the scene and six officers wearing breathing apparatus entered the building when they were told another woman was still inside.

She was found and led out by officers.

All four people were checked over by ambulance crews but did not require further treatment.

Incident Commander Jim Cleland said: “On arrival we could see smoke issuing from the first-floor windows. Two male adults and one female adult had made their way on to the first floor balcony and were quickly rescued by firefighters using a ladder.

“Six firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building with two hosereel jets to extinguish the fire and to carry out a full search.

“One further female adult was located and rescued by these teams and all four were given a precautionary check-up by the Scottish Ambulance Service at the scene.”